I really wish that I could have come up with a snarky reply. But I was literally speechless. And that is odd, because usually I’m pretty good with a quick come-back.

But I will have the last laugh (sort of). The person who asked if knitting was a nervous habit is the wife of a colleague. They are expecting a baby in November. I will be kitting for them — they’re having a girl, and girl’s things are so fun. And I have quite awhile to come up with something snarky to say when they open the present.

Maybe… It can be a productive nervious habit, can’t it?

Feel free to add your own suggestions in the comments. 😈

dragon scales and lace

The Dragon Scale socks are progressing. You can see that I’m almost up to the gussets and there’s a couple of rows of overlapping scales now.

Sheila asks: Whatâ€™s driven me to (finally) comment is that perfectly round toe on the dragon scales sock!! OMG. Is that a virtue of knitting on circulars?

Ah, yes, gentle reader. That can be attributed to my Mad Knitting Skilz. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain the sock blocker with the very round toe that the sock is stretched over. Mad skilz. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. 😆

The picture shows the socks not stretched over a blocker. Still a fairly nice roundish toe. But maybe not quite as round as the picture from the last post.

Also getting a little love from yours truly is the Great Green Glob (aka the Pacific Northwest Shawl) — mostly because I’m insanely jealous as I watch all of the lovely MS3 samples springing up all over the knitosphere. And I didn’t sign up. Because I knew I needed to get this done first. (See… I have a little discipline – one lace project at a time.)

But not a lot of knitting is getting done this week because…

Last weekend I went to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix I liked it. A lot. I thought it an excellent example of how to condense a weighty and wordy tomb into the most germane portions for film. There were a few things left out that I thought should have been included. But on the whole it was a good job. Dark. Very dark. Maybe too scary for really small kids.

And then I started looking around the house for my copy of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I can’t find it. It has disappeared into the black hole that is my house. I looked in all of the likely places. So obviously it’s either in an unlikely place or I loaned it out and have forgotten. At any rate, tonight I stopped by a bookstore and picked up a new copy, which I will now read quickly, because…

Saturday…

My copy is already on order. Guess what I will be doing this weekend?

Remarks:

I suppose a generous interpretation of her question would be that she was feeling nervous at this event/has a nervous habit of her own and was looking for someone to share that with. If you never had to see the person again and wanted to be sassy back at them: “Is sticking your foot in your mouth a nervous habit?” I don’t think I would ever have the nerve to say that to someone.

It is very nice of you to knit for this woman’s baby. I hope she changes her mind about knitting after seeing your gift.

My kids call me a “compulsive” knitter, as I, like you, knit when/wherever I can. I find it relaxing so the counterpoint to some people is that it is a “nervous” thing. I disagree! I find that idle hands need to be filled and look at the beautiful things we can produce.
I personally would find her comment offensive however, given the social situation (and the co-worker association), a snarky comeback is probably not in order although I would have had blood running from my mouth!!(biting the tongue thing!)..
“My hands are productive”…perhaps a bit less of a snarky comeback but at least making the point…oh the conundrum!

I still like the “It keeps me away from my heroine habit” (or some such line) that someone suggested. She’ll eat her words when she opens the present (God help me if she’s one of those women who don’t “get” the work that goes into making something so beautiful and one of a kind).

I too enjoyed the HP5 movie. But I also thought a lot was left out that needed to be in there. It was almost as if the writer and director were banking on people having read the book! I still re-read it even after seeing the movie in preparation for this Saturday’s release! Have a fun time!

I’m jealous that you’re doing the Pacific Northwest Shawl; I’ve wanted to do it for ages. I even have yarn stashed that I want to use; but I haven’t ordered the pattern. I am, however, signed up for MS3, but not knitting it; still slogging along on that sweater.

I think the question is not so much “is knitting a nervous habit” as “isn’t this person rather rude?” She probably is the kind of person who makes a comment on everything, a self appointed social compass. It wasn’t my mother in law, was it?

This is a person who has no idea what a knitter’s mind or nerves are. Knitting takes a person who can think, organize, stay focused, do precise calculations, and rip out hours of work if necessary to do the job right.